Five Times
by Ichireiro
Summary: Four times that Alejandro was there to help Maya, and one he wasn't.


**ONE:**

When Maya was younger, she had a tendency to fall down. Her balance improved when she got older, though she was still clumsy, but when she was younger, she could barely stand on her own. Alejandro had always had to help her stay on her feet, but he didn't mind. He was always happy to help his sister. Their father had died when they were infants and their mother was almost always busy working two jobs just to feed them, so when it came to Maya, Alejandro would take care of her.

They were in the park one day, a place that was forbidden by their mother for them to go to. Maya had wanted to go though—she had even cried for it, which wasn't unusual for her—and Alejandro would normally give in and give her whatever she wanted, as long as it was in his power to do so.

As he started down at his crying sister, who was sitting on the ground with her now bleeding knee pulled up to her chest, he was reminded once again why they weren't supposed to go the park alone; Maya was accident prone.

He had reasoned with himself, thinking about things carefully, even at such a young age, so he could try to make his sister both happy and healthy. He had decided that they would be okay, that he would watch Maya carefully so she wouldn't get hurt. She would be happy _and _safe that way, a win win situation.

But Maya hadn't been safe. She had slipped, scraping her knee on the hard ground that had currently been below her. Alejandro felt guilt—he should have known not to take Maya to the park, even if she cried for it—but he would sort through that later; his sister needed him at the moment.

"Sh, Maya, sh."

He looked around to make sure that no adults were watching them, ever so careful to take care of his sister even during an emergency—and Maya hurt and crying, even if it was just over a scraped knee, was clearly an emergency—because an adult snooping around about why two children, not even past the age of ten, were alone in a park would not be good.

"It'll be okay, it'll be okay, sh."

He brushed her hair off of her forehead, knowing that she liked it when he did that, and kissed her there. He couldn't promise her that he could keep her safe forever because promises were easily broken, and when they were they could sometimes hurt more than actions themselves, but he could try to always be there for her when she was hurt.

**TWO:**

Despite the fact that she was twelve already—Alejandro realized one day while he was gazing at his sister that time really _did _fly by—Maya still fell down sometimes. It had always been a problem for her, but Alejandro didn't mind watching out for her as most people would. It was just part of what made Maya who she was, and at least it wasn't as bad as it had been when they were younger. It didn't matter that he had to take extra time looking at the shoes he bought for her to try to get the ones that would make it less likely for her to fall.

They were at the same park that they had been visiting their whole life—the same park that Maya had scraped her knee at when they were younger—but this time Maya had an injury worse than a little scrape; she had fallen and twisted her ankle.

"Come on, Maya."

His sister was crying—she was always crying, it seemed, and Alejandro hated that he could never make her happy for long, like she deserved—as he lifted her up into his arms. He glanced at the damaged body part before telling her that they would need to tell their mother. She chose not to say anything, but Alejandro smiled a bit, some of his worry gone, as he felt his sister wrap her arms around his neck and hide her head in his shoulder.

Maya smelt familiar, like home, and he had to wonder how anyone could ever mind taking care of a sibling.

**THREE: **

They were running low on food again, he realized. Their mother tried to make enough money to get them dinner, but sometimes it just didn't work out that way. She could usually make enough money for two people, three if they were lucky, and would go without so her children could eat, but Alejandro was the man of the family, and therefor he believed that it was his to take care of.

He had tried to get a job when he hit his teens, but it was hard to find anything, so he did what any good brother or son would do; he stole. He only stole what he needed to take care of his family, but it was still enough to get him a bad rap with the adults in his neighborhood. It didn't matter though, as long as his sister and his mother were taken care of.

He had only managed to steal enough food for two on a night that his mother wasn't able to bring home anything to eat at all, so he did what he knew he should do; poverty had turned him into a thief and a liar, but he didn't care if he was sinning. His family was all that mattered.

He lied to his mother and his sibling, telling them that he had gotten enough for three, and that he had just eaten on the way home. Maya didn't look like she believed him, but he assured both his mother and his sister that he had, in fact, eaten. Maya still looked suspicious, but he had gotten her to eat her dinner.

That night Alejandro went to bed with an empty stomach and a chest full of pride because he took care of his family.

**FOUR:**

Alejandro had never liked Maya's taste in boys; unlike her balance, he thought, her taste never seemed to improve with age. She seemed drawn to the type who were dangerous and could hurt her (thoughts he would be having a few years later after they would meet Gabriel). The type who didn't care about anyone but themselves. The type that Alejandro couldn't stand to be around. The type who didn't _deserve _his sister.

So it came as no shock to him that he would hit one—well, actually, _most—_of her boyfriends for doing something that he _really _didn't need to do to or on his sister. Particularly the one who he had just punched, who, Alejandro had found out, happened to be cheating on Maya.

She may be upset with him now, he reasoned, but she would thank him later.

**And the time he wasn't:**

Maya was in her apartment, her head in her hands, wondering what to do. Her power had been taken from her, thankfully, but she couldn't go home because the bounty on her head was still in place.

She wanted to stay in America, but she didn't have any papers, and it would be hard to find work. She could work for the company that had gotten rid of her power, she supposed, but she didn't know what she could do there now that she was powerless. Besides, she reasoned, Mohinder would be there, and she didn't want anything to do with him anymore.

Not for the first time, Maya wished that her departed brother was still with her to kiss her forehead, to tell her things would be okay, to carry her when she couldn't take the weight of the world, to get her what she needs, to stop men from hurting her.

She didn't know how she was ever going to be able to live without him.


End file.
